The 18-year-old right-arm off-spinner took five wickets against the Taunton club in September, impressed in two outings for the second string and now has a senior contract to celebrate
Shoaib Bashir has capped a remarkable few weeks by winning a professional contract at Somerset for the 2023 season.
A right-arm off-spinner, the 18-year-old has been plucked from Berkshire in the National Counties system.
Bashir played twice for Somerset second XI in September, taking 3 for 51 in a rain-effected draw against Surrey on debut.
He followed that up with match figures of 6 for 76 - including a second-innings five-for - against Warwickshire at Taunton.
It was while playing for Berkshire Under-18s that Bashir first came to Somerset's attention, taking 5 for 19 in the Royal London National County T20 competition semi-final.
Scheduled to join up with the first team in March 2023, Bashir will aim to continue his development by playing club cricket in Australia this winter.
Andy Hurry is looking forward to having Bashir on board (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
"I'm delighted to have signed my first contract and I'm really looking forward to the season ahead," he said.
"It means a lot because I've been working really hard for this. I've been playing cricket since I was seven years old and it's always been my dream to be a professional cricketer, so to sign a professional contract really is a dream come true."
"I'll be working hard to develop and improve all aspects of my game, and being around a professional environment will definitely motivate me to work harder than ever to make sure that I can perform to the best of my ability."
Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry added: "We were extremely impressed by Shoaib during the time that he spent in our second XI towards the end of the season."
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